It takes only 20 words to separate Dartmouth rookie Kyle Hendricks from the rest of his Ivy League peers—one simple phrase that's front and center in his bio on the Dartmouth Athletics Web site: "Selected in the 39th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim." It's already rare that the Ivy League produces major league talent. It's rarer still that an Ivy League school should bring in a player already considered to be Major League material. But why is Kyle Hendricks in Hanover instead of working his way up the minor league ladder? "Coming to get an Ivy League education, you can't substitute that," Hendricks said. So instead of going to Tempe, Ariz. to join the Angels' rookie ball affiliate, Hendricks said thanks but no thanks to his first chance at living his major league dream. Is he worried that he won't get another shot later on? "I thought it might be my only chance, but if you have a good work ethic and get good coaching and everything, it'll probably come back around," Hendricks said. "I hope I'll have another chance in three or four years." If things go as well as they have so far in Hendricks's young career, that chance will definitely be there in the future. The freshman out of San Juan Capistrano, Calif. dominated the defense against league champion Columbia in his first Ivy start, throwing a seven-inning complete game for his first collegiate win. That earned Hendricks an Ivy League Pitcher of the Week award last week. Odds are that won't be Hendricks's only award this year—an Ivy League Rookie of the Year honor could be in the cards, especially if Dartmouth continues its sterling early pace. It's part of a meteoric rise for Hendricks, who went from being an ordinary right-hander with a so-so fastball to a legitimate prospect in his senior season at Capistrano Valley High School. "He really improved himself," said Bobby DeGardian, a scout for the Angels who watched Hendricks in his junior and senior years of high school. "Early on, when I saw him in July [before Hendricks's senior year], he was throwing 84 to 86 [miles per hour], but in the spring time, he was anywhere from 87 to 90." Hendricks credited the uptick in his velocity, as well as his improved strength, to his work with Tom Wilson, a former strength and conditioning coach for the Angels. That work quickly paid off. Halfway through his senior year, Hendricks had begun to draw a sizeable amount of interest from a number of clubs. "There were a couple of teams I filled out questionnaires for, the Red Sox, the Astros, the A's, but the Angels were really the only team that were heavily interested in me that I talked to a lot," Hendricks said. With the scouts watching in the stands­—"They try to hide, but you can kind of tell that they're there," he said with a laugh—Hendricks ended up posting an 8-2 record and a 0.93 ERA in his final year of high school, striking out 65 in 75 innings while being named South Coast League Player of the Year. And even as the scouts approached him to talk about a future as a professional, Hendricks continued to look at colleges, narrowing his choices to Dartmouth and the University of California at San Diego. Hendricks eventually packed his bags for Hanover and told the major league clubs that he planned on attending school in the fall. It wasn't an easy choice by any means. "I didn't really tell them [the Angels] that I was committed to Dartmouth because I really wasn't, you know, because my life dream is to play major league baseball. That's all I want to do," Hendricks said. "If the right amount of signing money or the right round had come along, it could've definitely happened, but the cards didn't fall into place, so I ended up coming to Dartmouth." Hendricks admitted that, in the back of his mind, he continues to think about professional baseball and that, should the opportunity present itself, he would consider leaving school to begin a pro career with the hopes of coming back one day. "I'd love to spend four years here, but my ultimate dream is to make it to the major leagues, so the best opportunity for that might be after my junior year," he said. "We'll have to wait and see when we get there." His major league career deferred for now, Hendricks has turned his focus to Dartmouth. Even after his start against Columbia, Hendricks didn't skip a beat—he went right back to the gym the next day to prepare for his next start. Hendricks is fully locked in to the pitcher's mindset—he talks regularly of approaching his starts with full confidence, of establishing his fastball, and of challenging hitters with any pitch at any time in the count. Hendricks admires that confidence in San Francisco's Tim Lincecum and San Diego's Jake Peavy, his two favorite MLB pitchers. He particularly respects "their demeanor on the mound and how they go at hitters. They attack them with fastballs. They're not going to shy away from anybody." Hendricks doesn't have Lincecum's violent windup or his arsenal of pitches. But Lincecum, too, had the chance to join the majors straight out of high school, drafted in 2003 by the Chicago Cubs. And, like Hendricks, he said no, went to college, and was eventually drafted tenth overall in 2006. Lincecum is the proud owner of a Cy Young Award after striking out 265 batters in 227 innings for the Giants last season. Hendricks knows that he may not be as lucky as Lincecum was to get another chance. However, he is confident that, with the right amount of work, he'll get another shot. "You've just got to be confident in your abilities and know that if you work hard, you'll progress and eventually things will come your way," he said.